Back in September 2017 Selena Gomez revealed to the world why she had stepped out of the spotlight earlier that year, citing an important surgery as the reason for her disappearance. As it turned out, she had been struggling with a diagnosis of Lupus and eventually discovered she needed an immediate kidney transplant.
Fortunately she had the help of her best friend Francia Raisa, who donated one of her kidneys to the 25-year-old singer. Gomez posted a photo of them both post-surgery, which gained over 10 million likes and thousands of comments.
"There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa," she wrote in the post, "She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis."
Later that year, Francia presented the Woman of the Year award at the 2017 Billboard Women In Music event, and in turn the singer dedicated the award to her friend. "To be honest, I think Francia should be getting this award," she said. "Because she saved my life."
Despite the success of the surgery, Gomez still has to deal with the remaining scars. Regardless of how visible they are, there is still going to be some feeling of insecurity about a change to your body, one that isn't helped when the paparazzi are following you around.
Selena was recently spotted on a private yacht while she was on vacation in Australia. Relaxing on the deck, it was the first time the public caught a glimpse of how she looked post-surgery. Once those photos started spreading, it was only a matter of time before Gomez saw them.
Her response, however, was to post a carefree video of the vacation. However, the caption for the video went into detail about the "beauty myth" that "traps modern woman":
"The beauty myth - an obsession with physical perfection that traps modern woman in an endless cycle of hopelessness, self consciousness, and self-hatred as she tries to fulfill society's impossible definition of flawless beauty.
"I chose to take care of myself because I want to, not to prove anything to anyone. Wind in her sails."
The post has already amassed nearly two million likes at the time of writing, as well as a huge amount of support from her fans. Many in the comments section of the Instagram post wrote about how much her words meant to them.
One wrote "thankyou for making me confident," while another called her "my inspiration". There were also plenty of purple heart emojis - which is the colour representative of lupus, another way for people to show their support for those that suffer the illness.
There have been some other changes to the singer's life as of late. Recently, she unfollowed almost everyone on Instagram, with only 12 Instagram accounts left behind after the purge.
